Irda converter tag

ABSTRACT

An infrared converter tag device is disclosed. A housing contains an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output. A display or a radio transmitter is provided and a processor is programmed to receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image or provide a signal that is transmitted as an RF signal.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to infrared communications and translationof same to visual display or radio frequency communication.

BACKGROUND

Generally speaking, many legacy systems utilize IrDA ports to conveyinformation (e.g., utility meters, mailing drop boxes, vending machines,etc.). However, many newer computing platforms do not have the ports ordrivers necessary to add support for an IrDA interface. Or, sometimessize limitations on the device restrict that.

Therefore, a need exists to convert the infrared ports to a betterformat.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention embraces n infraredconverter tag device. A housing contains an infrared receiver that isported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and providean electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as anoutput. A display or a radio transmitter is provided and a processor isprogrammed to receive the electrical signal output from the infraredreceiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided to thedisplay where the display represents the signal as a visual image orprovide a signal that is transmitted as an RF signal.

In an example embodiment, a housing contains: an infrared receiver thatis ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data andprovide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data asan output. A display is provided. A processor is programmed to receivethe electrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert theoutput to a signal that is provided to the display where the displayrepresents the signal as a visual image.

In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert theelectrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as avisual image of a bar code. In certain implementations, the processor isprogrammed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that isrepresented on the display as alphanumeric characters. In certainimplementations, a radio transmitter is provided and the processor isfurther programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that istransmitted by the radio transmitter. In certain implementations, theradio transmitter transmits radio signals that are compliant with atleast one of BlueTooth standard, Near Field Communications, WirelessLocal Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networks and Radio FrequencyIdentifiers. In certain implementations, an attachment mechanism is usedto attach the housing to a legacy device so as to permit infraredsignals to pass to the infrared receiver. In certain implementations, aninfrared pass-through permits the infrared signal to pass through thehousing so that the infrared signal can be read by an infrared reader.In certain implementations, a battery powers the infrared receiver, thedisplay, and the processor.

In another exemplary embodiment, a housing contains: an infraredreceiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encodeddata and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrareddata as an output. A radio transmitter is provided. A processor isprogrammed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that istransmitted by the radio transmitter.

In certain implementations, the radio transmitter transmits radiosignals that are compliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, NearField Communications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide AreaNetworks and Radio Frequency Identifiers. In certain implementations, anattachment mechanism is used to attach the housing to a legacy device soas to permit infrared signals to pass to the infrared receiver. Incertain implementations, an infrared pass-through permits the infraredsignal to pass through the housing so that the infrared signal can beread by an infrared reader. In certain implementations, the processor isfurther programmed to receive the electrical signal output from theinfrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided tothe display where the display represents the signal as a visual image.In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert theelectrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as avisual image of a bar code. In certain implementations, the processor isprogrammed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that isrepresented on the display as alphanumeric characters. In certainimplementations, a battery powers the infrared receiver, the radiotransmitter, and the processor.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a housing contains: an infraredreceiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encodeddata and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrareddata as an output. Both a radio frequency transmitter and a display areprovided. An attachment mechanism is used to attach the housing to alegacy device so as to permit infrared signals to pass to the infraredreceiver. A processor is programmed to: receive the electrical signaloutput from the infrared receiver, convert the output to a signal thatis provided to the display where the display represents the signal as avisual image, and convert the electrical signal to a signal that istransmitted by the radio transmitter. In certain cases, a battery orother power source powers the infrared receiver, the transmitter, thedisplay and the processor.

In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert theelectrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as avisual image of a bar code. In certain implementations, the processor isprogrammed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that isrepresented on the display as alphanumeric characters. In certainimplementations, the radio transmitter transmits radio signals that arecompliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, Near FieldCommunications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networksand Radio Frequency Identifiers. In certain implementations, an infraredpass-through permits the infrared signal to pass through the housing sothat the infrared signal can be read by an infrared reader.

The foregoing illustrative summary, as well as other exemplaryobjectives and/or advantages of the invention, and the manner in whichthe same are accomplished, are further explained within the followingdetailed description and its accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically depicts an example of an IrDA tag consistent withcertain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention embraces a device—a “tag”—used to convert infraredcommunication signals to another format such as radio frequency orvisual display.

This invention attempts to solve this problem by providing a low cost“tag” that could be adhered over the legacy IR port, and convert thatsignal into another format that could be accepted by the mobile device.Such formats may include: Bluetooth, WIFI, NFC, bar code, etc.

A battery operated IrDA tag accepts signals from the IR transmittingport which further encodes and transmits the signal over a wirelessmedium such as NFC/RFID tag, BT/WLAN/WWAN or updates an electronicdisplay to present the data in human or machine readable form.

The “tag” would have an IrDA receiver to accept the signal from thetransmitting port. It would then have processing capabilities to processthe signal and either encode the data for transmission over a wirelessmedium (Bluetooth, Cellular, WIFI, NFC, RFD UHF, etc.) or to update anelectronic display to present the data in human or machine readableform.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an example legacy device 10 is depicted. Legacydevice (e.g., a water meter) has an infrared transmitter port 14 that isused to convey a meter reading encoded into infrared light rays 18 to acompatible receiver device.

As noted above, there may be disadvantages to directly using the IRsignal in connection with more modern communication devices. It may alsobe too expensive to fully replace the Legacy devices that are alreadyfield deployed. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an easilyadapted interface that can be affixed to the legacy device and convertthe legacy infrared signal to either a radio signal or a visual signal.Tag 40 provides such a converter in device that can be affixed (e.g., byepoxy or other adhesive or other mechanical attachment mechanism) to thelegacy device in order to provide for more modern communication.

Tag 40 is, in one embodiment, powered by a battery 44, but may also behardwired to a convenient power source in other embodiments. The tag 40includes an infrared receiver 48 which is ported to a face of anenclosure 52 so as to permit receipt of the infrared signals 18transmitted from the legacy device 10. The infrared signals received byreceiver 48 are converted to electrical signals that are provided to aprocessor 60 for interpretation.

In one embodiment, the processor 60 translates the signal received fromIrDA receiver 48 to a signal that is retransmitted by a radiotransmitter 64 as, for example, a BlueTooth™ compatible signal (or as anear field communication (NFC), WiFi, Wireless Local Area Networking(WLAN), Wireless Wide Area Networking (WWAN), Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID), etc.) which can then be readily received by acompatible radio receiver. This enables more modern communicationdevices to be deployed without need for replacement of legacy devices.

In another embodiment, processor 60 translates the signal received fromthe IrDA receiver 48 into a signal that can be represented on a display68 such as an e-Ink display. In one example, the display can displayalphanumeric characters or other characters that can be human or machineread. In another example, the display can be made to display a 2D or 3Dbar code that can be machine read by a bar code reader device. Othervariations will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration ofthe present teachings.

In other embodiments, as depicted in FIG. 1, both a radio transmitterand a display may be provided, but in generally most applications willonly utilize one or the other. Hence, either the display or thetransmitter can be omitted in most applications to minimize cost. Manyvariations will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration ofthe present teachings.

In use, this tag 40 would be placed directly over the IrDA port of thelegacy device to now have a more modern interface. It could further beadapted to pass through the IrDA signal via an IR pass-through 74 forreading to remain compatible with other IrDA reading devices withoutdeparting from the present teachings.

To supplement the present disclosure, this application incorporatesentirely by reference the following commonly assigned patents, patentapplication publications, and patent applications:

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In the specification and/or figures, typical embodiments of theinvention have been disclosed. The present invention is not limited tosuch exemplary embodiments. The use of the term “and/or” includes anyand all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Thefigures are schematic representations and so are not necessarily drawnto scale. Unless otherwise noted, specific terms have been used in ageneric and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation.

1. A device, comprising: a housing containing: an infrared receiver thatis ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data andprovide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data asan output; a display; and a processor that is programmed to receive theelectrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert theoutput to a signal that is provided to the display where the displayrepresents the signal as a visual image.
 2. The device according toclaim 1, where the processor is programmed to convert the electricalsignal to a signal that is represented on the display as a visual imageof a bar code.
 3. The device according to claim 1, where the processoris programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that isrepresented on the display as alphanumeric characters.
 4. The deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising a radio transmitter; and wherethe processor is further programmed to convert the electrical signal toa signal that is transmitted by the radio transmitter.
 5. The deviceaccording to claim 4, where the radio transmitter transmits radiosignals that are compliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, NearField Communications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide AreaNetworks and Radio Frequency Identifiers.
 6. The device according toclaim 1, further comprising an attachment mechanism that is used toattach the housing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signalsto pass to the infrared receiver.
 7. The device according to claim 6,further comprising an infrared pass-through that permits the infraredsignal to pass through the housing so that the infrared signal can beread by an infrared reader.
 8. The device according to claim 8, furthercomprising a battery that powers the infrared receiver, the display andthe processor.
 9. A device, comprising: a housing containing: aninfrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infraredencoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encodedinfrared data as an output; a radio transmitter; and a processor that isprogrammed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that istransmitted by the radio transmitter.
 10. The device according to claim9, where the radio transmitter transmits radio signals that arecompliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, Near FieldCommunications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networksand Radio Frequency Identifiers.
 11. The device according to claim 9,further comprising an attachment mechanism that is used to attach thehousing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signals to pass tothe infrared receiver.
 12. The device according to claim 9, furthercomprising an infrared pass-through that permits the infrared signal topass through the housing so that the infrared signal can be read by aninfrared reader.
 13. The device according to claim 10, where theprocessor is further programmed to receive the electrical signal outputfrom the infrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that isprovided to the display where the display represents the signal as avisual image.
 14. The device according to claim 13, where the processoris programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that isrepresented on the display as a visual image of a bar code.
 15. Thedevice according to claim 13, where the processor is programmed toconvert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on thedisplay as alphanumeric characters.
 16. The device according to claim 8,further comprising a battery that powers the infrared receiver, thedisplay and the processor.
 17. A device, comprising: a housingcontaining: an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing toreceive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signalrepresenting the encoded infrared data as an output; a radio frequencytransmitter; a display; an attachment mechanism that is used to attachthe housing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signals to passto the infrared receiver; a processor that is programmed to: receive theelectrical signal output from the infrared receiver, convert the outputto a signal that is provided to the display where the display representsthe signal as a visual image, and convert the electrical signal to asignal that is transmitted by the radio transmitter; and a battery thatpowers the infrared receiver, the radio frequency transmitter, thedisplay, and the processor.
 18. The device according to claim 17, wherethe processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signalthat is represented on the display as a visual image of a bar code or ofalphanumeric characters.
 19. The device according to claim 17, where theradio transmitter transmits radio signals that are compliant with atleast one of BlueTooth standard, Near Field Communications, WirelessLocal Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networks and Radio FrequencyIdentifiers.
 20. The device according to claim 17, further comprising aninfrared pass-through that permits the infrared signal to pass throughthe housing so that the infrared signal can be read by an infraredreader.